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Arete (mythology)

Arete (mythology)

Overview
In Greek mythology
Greek mythology
Greek mythology is the body of myths and legends belonging to the ancient Greeks concerning their gods and heroes, the nature of the world, and the origins and significance of their own cult and ritual practices. They were a part of religion in ancient Greece...

, Queen Arete (Greek
Ancient Greek
Ancient Greek is the historical stage in the development of the Greek language spanning across the Archaic , Classical , and Hellenistic periods of ancient Greece and the ancient world. It is predated in the 2nd millennium BC by Mycenaean Greek...

: , Arêtê) of Scheria
Scheria
Scheria –also known as Scherie or Phaeacia– was a region of land in the eastern Mediterranean in Greek mythology, first mentioned in Homer's Odyssey as the home of the Phaiakians and the last destination of Odysseus before returning home to Ithaca.-Odysseus meets Nausikaa:In the...

 was the wife of Alcinous
Alcinous
Alcinous or Alkínoös was in Greek mythology a son of Nausithous, or of Phaeax , and father of Nausicaa, Halius, and Laodamas with Arete. His name literally means "mighty mind"...

 and mother of Nausicaa
Nausicaa
In ancient Greek literature, Nausicaa is the daughter of King Alcinous of the Phaeacians and Queen Arete in Homer's Odyssey , Book Six. Her name means, in Greek, "burner of ships"....

 and Laodamas
Laodamas
In Greek mythology, Laódamas referred to three different people.#Son of Antenor and Theano.#Son of Alcinous and Arete.#Son of Eteocles. Laodamas inherited Thebes from his father. During the battle of the Epigoni, he was killed by Alcmaeon after he killed Aegialeus....

. She welcomed Odysseus
Odysseus
Odysseus or Ulysses , in Greek mythology , was a legendary Greek king of Ithaca and the hero of Homer's epic poem, The Odyssey...

 and treated him hospitably. Her name appears to be associated with the Ionic
Ionic Greek
Ionic Greek was a sub-dialect of the Attic-Ionic dialectal group of Ancient Greek .Ionic dialect appears to have spread originally from the Greek mainland across the Aegean at the time of the Dorian invasions, around the 11th Century B.C.By the end of the Greek Dark Ages in the 5th Century B.C,...

 noun
ἀρητή, meaning "sacred", "cursed" or "prayed"; but it could also mean "excellence
Arete
Arete is the term meaning "virtue" or "excellence", from Greek ἈρετήArete may also be used:*as a given name of persons or things:**Queen Arete , a character in Homer's Odyssey.***197 Arete, an asteroid....

" (ἀρετή).
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Encyclopedia
In Greek mythology
Greek mythology
Greek mythology is the body of myths and legends belonging to the ancient Greeks concerning their gods and heroes, the nature of the world, and the origins and significance of their own cult and ritual practices. They were a part of religion in ancient Greece...

, Queen Arete (Greek
Ancient Greek
Ancient Greek is the historical stage in the development of the Greek language spanning across the Archaic , Classical , and Hellenistic periods of ancient Greece and the ancient world. It is predated in the 2nd millennium BC by Mycenaean Greek...

: , Arêtê) of Scheria
Scheria
Scheria –also known as Scherie or Phaeacia– was a region of land in the eastern Mediterranean in Greek mythology, first mentioned in Homer's Odyssey as the home of the Phaiakians and the last destination of Odysseus before returning home to Ithaca.-Odysseus meets Nausikaa:In the...

 was the wife of Alcinous
Alcinous
Alcinous or Alkínoös was in Greek mythology a son of Nausithous, or of Phaeax , and father of Nausicaa, Halius, and Laodamas with Arete. His name literally means "mighty mind"...

 and mother of Nausicaa
Nausicaa
In ancient Greek literature, Nausicaa is the daughter of King Alcinous of the Phaeacians and Queen Arete in Homer's Odyssey , Book Six. Her name means, in Greek, "burner of ships"....

 and Laodamas
Laodamas
In Greek mythology, Laódamas referred to three different people.#Son of Antenor and Theano.#Son of Alcinous and Arete.#Son of Eteocles. Laodamas inherited Thebes from his father. During the battle of the Epigoni, he was killed by Alcmaeon after he killed Aegialeus....

. She welcomed Odysseus
Odysseus
Odysseus or Ulysses , in Greek mythology , was a legendary Greek king of Ithaca and the hero of Homer's epic poem, The Odyssey...

 and treated him hospitably. Her name appears to be associated with the Ionic
Ionic Greek
Ionic Greek was a sub-dialect of the Attic-Ionic dialectal group of Ancient Greek .Ionic dialect appears to have spread originally from the Greek mainland across the Aegean at the time of the Dorian invasions, around the 11th Century B.C.By the end of the Greek Dark Ages in the 5th Century B.C,...

 noun
ἀρητή, meaning "sacred", "cursed" or "prayed"; but it could also mean "excellence
Arete
Arete is the term meaning "virtue" or "excellence", from Greek ἈρετήArete may also be used:*as a given name of persons or things:**Queen Arete , a character in Homer's Odyssey.***197 Arete, an asteroid....

" (ἀρετή). Some sources claim that it means "righteous", while others connect it with Ares
Ares
In Greek mythology, Ares is the son of Zeus and Hera. Though often referred to as the Olympian god of warfare, he is more accurately the god of bloodlust, or slaughter personified: "Ares is apparently an ancient abstract noun meaning throng of battle, war."-Etymology:Ares is the god of war...

, the Greek god of war
War
War is a reciprocated, armed conflict, between two or more non-congruous entities, aimed at reorganising a subjectively designed, geo-politically desired result...

.

Arete is a descendant of Poseidon
Poseidon
In Greek mythology, Poseidon was the god of the sea and, as "Earth-Shaker," of earthquakes. The name of the sea-god Nethuns in Etruscan was adopted in Latin for Neptune in Roman mythology: both were sea gods analogous to Poseidon...

, who, making love to Periboea
Periboea
In Greek mythology, nine people shared the name Periboea .#Periboea was the daughter of either King Cychreus of Salamis or of Alcathous. Her mother was either Pyrgo or Evaechme , daughter of Megareus. She married Telamon and became and mother of Ajax. She also consorted with Theseus.#Periboea,...

, begot Nausithous
Nausithous
Father was the fabled hero Odysseus and Greek goddess Calypso.He was the father of Alcinous and Rhexenor, and king of the Phaeacians, whom he led from Hypereia in Thrinacia to the island of Scheria, in order to escape from the Cyclopes....

, who in turn had two sons, Rhexenor
Rhêxênor
In Greek mythology, Rhêxênor was the name of several individuals:#Rhêxênor was the father of Chalciope.#Rhêxênor was the son of Nausithous and the father of Arete. Apollo killed him....

 and Alcinous
Alcinous
Alcinous or Alkínoös was in Greek mythology a son of Nausithous, or of Phaeax , and father of Nausicaa, Halius, and Laodamas with Arete. His name literally means "mighty mind"...

. Rhexenor later spawned Arete with Apollo.